Molecular arrangement for twisted nematic liquid crystal displays having liquid crystalline materials with opposite chiral structures (reverse twisted nematic liquid crystal displays)

Abstract

It was found that in twisted nematic liquid crystal displays (TN-LCDs) in which the chiral direction of the liquid crystalline (LC) material is opposite to the twist direction determined by the rubbing directions, which are referred to as a reverse twisted nematic LCDs, LC molecules tilt largely without the application of an electric field. Reducing the pitch length of LC materials increases the polar angles of the LC molecules. This phenomenon can be explained by assuming that the stress generated by the helical power being in the opposite direction to the twist direction can be released by increasing the polar angle. The resultant molecular arrangement resembles that of TN-LCDs to which a voltage is applied. By using this LC molecular arrangement, a drastic reduction in the driving voltage of TN-LCDs could be realized. We believe that this method is capable of reducing the driving voltage of TN-LCDs more than other methods.